


To Orbit

by WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken



Series: We either make it, or break it. [27]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: (just a short moment but still tw), (look at me not writing another college au), Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Cute Han Jisung | Han, Cutesy, First Meetings, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Lee Minho | Lee Know is a Panicked Gay, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Self-Indulgent, Shy Han Jisung | Han, for a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken/pseuds/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken
Summary: A new kid transfers to Minho’s school and to be honest, he isn’t interested in the slightest.Said new kid, on the other hand, seems to be very interested in Minho though.---Basically Jisung crushing on Minho at first sight and trying to confess.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: We either make it, or break it. [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1439083
Comments: 6
Kudos: 200





	To Orbit

**Author's Note:**

> Babie Jisung has arrived. I have managed to put it off but I couldn't do it anymore and just had to do it.

‘’Your fanboy is trying to be sneaky again,’’ Chan chuckles mid-conversation, the guy tilting his chin somewhere behind Minho.

‘’He’s not my fanboy,’’ Minho rolls his eyes but takes a quick glance back anyways and low and behold, he sees half-a-face peeking into the hall from the corner.

The boy is far too late when throws himself back and Minho hears Changbin snicker behind him. 

It would be kinda creepy if it weren’t for the chubby cheeks, fluffy brown hair and round glasses. If any, Minho thinks it’s rather cute with how the boy comes across as a curious little animal.

His name in Minho’s head is ‘Squirrel’, has been for a couple of weeks already.

Changbin scoffs and tightens his hold on his books, ‘’He’s about everywhere you are, so either that or you are gonna get murdered sometime soon,’’

Sounds terrible.

What if he can’t make that history test scheduled for next week?

Oh well… it is what it is.

Minho huffs and rolls his eyes again, ‘’As if. What is he going to go? Throw acorns at me? Find some squirrel friends to help?,’’

Maybe he should be more concerned, but he’s not trying to be cocky when he says he’s somewhat used to it, getting stared at or followed around. He knows he’s good looking – not that he really cares - and his two friends are too, so people going out of their way to catch a glimpse of them has grown familiar over the last three years. 

It doesn’t bother him much. Not anymore. He just ignores it and moves on.

‘’Ah! I was already wondering what the kid reminded me of. A squirrel, of course!,’’ Chan perks up, ‘’He’s very cute,’’

Of course Chan thinks the boy is cute despite rarely seeing his whole face. Chan thinks just about _everyone_ is cute, including Changbin and that weird girl who always sits in the back of the class.

‘’I must admit, he’s pretty determined. Most of the time people give up right about now. Even _your_ face gets boring at some point Minho,’’ Changbin provides and it is an obvious jab. One that Minho doesn’t bother to do anything about.

Fortunately the conversation takes a turn after that, Changbin suddenly remembering that he has a test after the small break ends and Minho zones because he doesn’t really care. Well, a little but Changbin has a knack for making things seem worse than they are and his overall grades are fine so he’s probably just asking for attention at this point. Chan happily indulges because he _loves_ giving people attention. The whole reason Minho had gotten sucked into this friendship.

Anyways, Minho is more busy with zoning out and staring at the same spot the boy had been hiding away.

Nothing really ever happens in the small high school they are in, neither does anyone ever transfer halfway through the schoolyear, so it isn’t all that weird that it had literally been the latest rumour.

Minho didn’t – doesn’t? – really care and is one of the few people who had the talk go over his head when said new kid had gotten spotted on the first day back after the Christmas holidays. With that came that he had no clue how the boy looked like or what his name was. 

It had remained that way for a couple of weeks, but a little over a month later a new face started to pop up almost everywhere Minho went. It was easy to figure out it was the transferee because everyone knows everyone in the school – heck, even in town – so despite Minho having no interest, he thinks he sees the boy more than his own friends.

His thoughts wander after that and only when the bell rings does he get back to reality, just in time to hear Changbin whine and jostle Chan’s arm like an upset toddler.

It isn’t cute but Chan chuckles anyways.

Minho doesn’t bother saying bye as he trudges off, once again convinced that the oldest isn’t quite right in the head.

Minho has gym class and as soon as he steps inside he notices just how green the leaves on the trees outside have gotten. Which is to be expected because it was well into spring, but he hasn’t stopped by the small garden between the buildings in a long while. The last time he had it was to throw snowballs against Chan’s annoyingly smiling face.

The windows are large and low and he has a perfect view to the outside. The longer he looks, the more tiny flowers he sees and he thinks that it is a good idea to start eating lunch out there on the tiny patch of grass now that the sun has started to come out of hibernation.

He doesn’t get a lot of time to take it all in some more because the teacher claps his hands annoyingly loud to get their attention. They go through the whole warm-up – which is running laps around the place, how creative – before they get teamed up for basketball.

Minho isn’t really interested in it but he guesses he is somewhat good because the people on the blue team groan when he gets but in the red team.

Time passes quickly and without much excitement. The teams are divided pretty unfairly. So much so that Minho benches _himself_ to let the kid who hadn’t been put in the field play. The teacher lets him and he relaxes back on the bench. 

It’s only after a little that he sees something move from the corner of his eyes and when he turns to look, he sees two people stepping outside into the little garden. Or… somewhat.

Carrot, as Minho has so fittingly named the slightly taller boy with the freckles, is literally dragging Squirrel. The latter seems to try really hard to keep himself from getting dragged like a little ragdoll by stepping on the brakes, but it doesn’t do a whole lot for him.

Minho is pretty sure that Carrot is actually named Felix, but he isn’t too sure because he doesn’t hang out with first-years all that much. Seungmin is pretty much the exception and that is only because he is in the same music club as Chan and like everyone knows, Chan is quick to adopt kids when he finds out they don’t really have anyone to hang with.

Anyways, he is mildly amused at the struggle going on. So much so that he turns to see better and has to try to keep himself from chuckling. 

The two are obviously arguing over something and Squirrel just keeps shaking his head whilst Carrot keeps dragging him closer and closer. Then Minho realises they are getting suspiciously close to where he is and he already feels like he knows what’s going on. 

But he knows the boy is harmless.

That’s a bold assumption though because his behaviour is very much creepy in nature but Minho can’t seem to imagine the boy being either a serial killer or an obsessed psychopath coming for his ass. 

Not when he looks like… _that_.

He hears Chan in the back of his head telling him that looks can be deceiving but Minho has a strong feeling that this time they aren’t. Not with the puffy cheeks and pouty lips and big doe eyes and-

Minho says fuck it and takes a quick look back over his shoulder to see if anyone is paying any attention to him. They aren’t, too much into the game, so he cracks the window open enough for him to hang out of it with his upper body.

The fresh air is kinda nice after breathing in stuffy gym-air and smelling sweaty teenagers.

Now that he has the window open, he can not only see but also hear what is going on.

‘’No no no, Lix!,’’ Squirrel speaks, ‘’He probably already thinks I’m a stalker!,’’

Minho finds that his voice is pretty soothing and warm despite the panicked tinge.

‘’Come on,’’ Carrot replies with a laugh, ‘’This is your chance. Science never gets cancelled so it’s probably a sign from the universe babe,’’ 

‘’I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have listened to your advice. I don’t think this was and is the way to go Lixie,’’

Carrot rolls his eyes, ‘’Do you have a better plan? You can always just talk to him you know-,’’

‘’Oh no! I can’t do that! You know I can’t do that. I’d combust on the spot,’’

Minho taps the glass of the open window and he bites back a chuckle when both boys halt and snap their heads towards him, looking like two meercats with how frozen they are. He contemplates if he should say something, but he decides not to and gives the two a smile and a little wave.

Squirrel actually looks him in the eye for a long second – he has pretty eyes behind those adorable glasses – but then makes a rather panicked squeal and actually manages to twist his wrists out of Carrot’s grip before dashing back inside. 

Carrot gives Minho a sheepish little smile before wiggling his brows, quick to follow Squirrel back inside. 

Sad.

Minho would’ve liked to maybe talk to Squirrel for once.

Things go about the same for a long while but Minho kinda forgets about the boy. Things are really starting to pick up now that the winter break is getting a distant memory and Minho is busy with life. Or well, school. Which is basically his life right now so he guesses there’s little difference. 

Plus, he has two friends who have recently started to gain some attention for their music and walk around like zombies half of the time due to pulling multiple all-nighters per week. Minho gets that they love making music, but they are going to kill themselves if they keep it up. 

He tries to convince Chan and Changbin to put their hobby - _’’It’s not a hobby, it’s our life’s purpose,’’_ \- on the back-burner but that’s as easy as getting his cat Dori to keep still when he tries to remove a tic… which isn’t easy at all. 

Minho gives up and focusses more on himself and two weeks fly by like that. It’s boring and tedious and Minho wishes for something to get thrown at him to break the soul-draining routine. 

Maybe fate or the universe or whatever likes him at least somewhat because oh, something gets thrown at him alright. 

It comes in the form of a squirrel-like shadow on a Friday morning when he’s on his way to Literature.

Minho isn’t used to getting stopped in the hallway so when he feels a little tug on his sleeve, he comes to an abrupt – and slightly startled – halt. He turns around and comes face to face with Squirrel. 

It’s the first time he is actually seeing the boy’s face very clearly. The cheeks are bigger up close and Minho wonders if that’s still some leftover baby fat or if it’s just the way they are. He kinda hopes the latter because it’s cute.

‘’H-hello,’’ the boy stumbles, voice barely above a whisper, ‘’I’m J-Jisung,’’

The boy’s bangs hang in his face but Minho sees something shiny peek out and then he finds an eyebrow-piercing. A shocking revelation because he isn’t even sure if the school allows things like that. Plus, the boy doesn’t seem like the type for freaking piercings. Minho doesn’t mind though, it looks nice on him and draws some attention to his eyebrows. Which also look really nice. Is it possible to be attracted by a pair of eyebrows? Minho thinks so.

‘’Hey,’’ Minho replies, wondering why the boy has stopped him in the middle of the hallway after weeks of peeking around corners, ‘’What’s up?,’’

The boy seem caught off guard by Minho actually responding and suddenly looks at him like he has grown a second head, eyes bigger than they had before. Minho lets out a confused noise. What is there to be shocked about? That Minho actually said hello back? That he sounds softer than people assume?

 _’’The way you talk and your vibe don’t match, it throws me off,’’_ \- Changbin, 2k17

Minho snorts when he replays it in his head and the younger startles like he had been zoning out before he looks back over his own shoulder, hopping on his feet the tiniest bit like he wants nothing more but to get out of here.

Minho follows the boy’s line of sight and is just in time to catch two heads hiding back behind the one trashcan in the hallway. He chuckles when he recognizes Carrot and Tall Guy and the boy whips his head back to Minho, looking somewhat more scared. 

The older waves it off and smiles a little and Jisung seems to relax a tiny bit before he tenses back up. There is a long silence and despite Minho having the patience of a monk and somehow happy to finally talk to Jisung, he is very close to getting late for class. He contemplates saying fuck it but then again, if he gets late for Lit one more time he’ll have to be printer-boi for the next week. No one wants to be printer- _anything_ for Lit.

‘’If you-,’’

‘’I-I wanted to-,’’ the boy interrupts with a panicked squeak, hands trembling a little as he holds out what clearly is a letter, ‘’give this to y-you,’’

Minho’s name is on there, in pretty rounded handwriting and there is a glittery blue heart drawn next to it. It makes him miss using those glitter gel pens and there’s a slight feeling of nostalgia. He should buy a pack of those again sometimes, draw all over Changbin’s stuff as well because it will totally ruin whatever ‘dark boi’ imagine he tries to create.

He would do the same with Chan, but the guy would just smile at him and say thanks for decorating his stuff with pink, glittery ink. Where’s the fun in that?

There’s a tiny little noise He looks at the boy’s face again but fails to meet his eyes because the younger is looking everywhere but Minho - mostly the floor between their feet – and is one flustered mess.

Minho eyes the glittery heart again, looks back at the boy, thinks about the not-so-sneaky looking and only then he understands what is going on. 

How could he have missed it? He’s so dumb.

The hit of adrenaline is instant and he can feel his heart slowly speeding up, the world feels a little surreal.

Despite his image and the fact that he is used to people following him around, no one has ever dared to actually come up and talk to him. Let alone… confessing… having a crush? Or something? On him?

Minho doesn’t normally get flustered, neither does he actually blush, but he can feel the heath creeping up his neck and to his ears. It’s rather new and the only time he has ever felt like this was in his first year when he had given a really dumb answer to a question one of his teachers had asked. 

The class had laughed, obviously, and maybe Minho had stopped talking in class exactly because of that to avoid something similar from happening ever again.

However, the big difference with the situation right now is that there is a _really_ cute boy, finally daring to look up from the floor and at him with big sparkly eyes.

Needless to say, he freezes and blinks rapidly in succession. 

Beep beep, error 404, page not found.

Minho’s malfunctioning, although not enough that he doesn’t notice the boy seems to get closer to crying the more Minho blinks. Probably just nerves but it makes him feel horrible anyways, like it’s his fault. He’s also gnawing at his lower lip and the older kinda wants to tell him to stop doing that before he hurts himself.

But when he tries to say something, his lips stay pressed together firmly and his head is completely empty. There’s nothing in there but a vague feeling of panic and an odd sense of pride and endearment. A very fucking weird mix he doesn’t know what to do with.

It’s a bit much and like the idiot he is, he turns around without saying anything and just… walks away.

It seems like he had been right about his neck turning red because it is the first thing Chan comments on when Minho gets to class. Next to it being embarrassing, it serves as a reminder of what has just happened.

‘’Oh my god,’’ Minho groans as he leans forward over the table, thumping his forehead against the cold surface because he’s actually an idiot, ‘’I just left. I fucking-,’’ _thud_ ‘’left-,’’ _thud_ ‘’without saying-,’’ _thud_ ‘’anything,’’

Minho can only imagine the embarrassment he has just caused Jisung to experience, and probably some tears too. If there is one thing he has picked up on, it is that the boy seems too shy to just walk off a reaction like that.

Honestly, he feels like he has just kicked one of his own cats.

Chan intercept him from causing any more damage to his head and pushes Minho to sit back up properly, ‘’What are you talking about?,’’

‘’Jisung,’’ Minho whines under his breath, ‘’Squirrel,’’

‘’Squirrel?,’’ Chan parrots before he perks up, ‘’Ooohhhh, fanboy! He talked to you?,’’

Minho doesn’t even feel like correcting Changbin and just nods with a groan. He feels like a dickhead. 

‘’Did he finally proclaim his undying love for you?,’’ Chan grins, a little amused but also clearly concerned about Minho’s state of mind. Justified. Even Minho is concerned about his state of mind.

Anyways, Minho grimaces, ‘’I wouldn’t go that far but I think he tried to,’’

There’s a questioning look and Minho does a quick scan to see if anyone is secretly listening in on their conversation, but half of the room is still empty and there is only a cluster of students all the way up front at the whiteboard playing hangman. They are laughing loudly and Minho and Chan are clearly out of earshot for them.

He takes a breath and then relays everything that has gone down about fifteen minutes ago, all the way from recollecting how absolutely adorable Jisung looks up close to the way he had almost run away. Chan doesn’t interrupt him but when Minho announces he’s done, the older whacks the back of his head.

‘’Hey!,’’ Minho whines, rubbing the back of his head.

‘’Lee Minho!,’’ Chan gasps, clearly upset, ‘’I raised you better than that! The poor boy… You better go and apologize before the end of the week or there will be no more-,’’

‘’I know Chan,’’ Minho cuts off with a heavy sigh, ‘’Can we please drop it for now? I already feel like a dick okay, no need to make it worse,’’

Chan pats his back and lets it go.

The rest of the day Minho feels oddly melancholy and has a burning hate for his stupid brain. 

Instead of seeing the boy everywhere, he’s now nowhere to be found and the only sign of him actually being in school is when Minho catches a glimpse of him at lunch, all the way in the back. There are two other boys Minho knows to be his friends and everything looks peaceful enough, if he were to ignore Carrot clearly holding his hand and an arm loosely draped around the small of his back. 

Clearly a comforting gesture.

Minho wants to walk up and at least apologize for leaving like that, but honestly, he’s slightly scared of the other boys around the squirrel. He shouldn’t be; he’s two years older and he has the best intentions, but Tall Boy actually glares at him when their eyes accidently meet. 

Long story short; Minho stuffs the rest of his lunch in his mouth and tries to swallow it down, ignores Changbin whining about something to Chan and goes through the rest of the day without looking up from the floor.

It’s monday morning and Minho shuffles forward like a zombie. He’s not one to overthink all that much but he just wasn’t able to fall asleep at a somewhat decent time. Every time he closed his eyes his brain conjured up images of a very upset and hurt squirrel.

Maybe he’s making too big of a deal out of the whole thing, but feelings in general are not something to get underestimated, especially others’. Maybe objectively nothing even really happened, but to Jisung it may have been absolutely devastating. And _that’s_ what makes Minho feel really bad.

Anyways, Minho can hear the enthusiastic chatting leading up to his classroom and he wonders what has gotten people so talkative. He’s quick to step in but as soon as he does, all eyes turn to him and people fall silent. There’s enough to read from people’s faces though and a couple of girls look at him like he’s suddenly the spawn of Satan. It gives him the creeps.

He tries to ignore the now-hushed voices and plops himself down in the chair all the way back next to the window. Changbin is already at the little desk right next to his but seems to be busy trying to get a handful of minutes of slumber in before the day begins, arms folded underneath his head.

The talking picks back up after a minute or so like the weird silence from before has never happened. Minho’s close to letting it go but then Kangmin swerves around the tables and plops himself down on Minho’s little desk.

‘’So how does it feel? You lived up pretty well to your image, Lee,’’ the guy grins, clearly amused.

Changbin finally comes out of hiding, his eyes sharper than usual as he eyes the new addition with clear distain, ‘’What image are you talking about?,’’

Kangmin’s eyes shift to Changbin and he just shakes his head, pats him on the shoulder and looks back at Minho, ‘’Man, the guys are still laughing about it. It was so funny. Although I think the ladies are less impressed,’’ 

Minho feels the unease creep up in his guts, Changbin scratching at the peeling paint on one of the legs of his desk giving away it’s not just Minho.

‘’They are laughing? About wh-,’’

‘’Of course they are. In case you hadn’t noticed, there was quite the audience,’’ Kangmin laughs, ‘’The kid should’ve seen it coming. What was he thinking? The faggo-,’’

‘’Hey!,’’ Changbin intercepts before the guy can finish, harshly pushing at Kangmin’s shoulder to get him off Minho’s desk, ‘’That’s not cool man. Mind what you say,’’

Kangmin shrugs, seemingly not impressed at all or thinking about his language, ‘’Oh come on, take a chill-pill Seo. Anyways, gay boy is just a kid. He’ll cry about it for a week and then he’ll find some other person to fantasize about like the little creep he is. Disgusting,’’

Minho isn’t one to get into fights – whether physically or verbally – but he already hates Kangmin with a burning passion like most of the students and to hear him speak about Jisung in that way makes his blood boil.

He darts up from his chair fast enough for the piece of furniture to tip back and crash onto the floor, but he doesn’t register the noise or the heads turning to them as his fist lands somewhere on Kangmin’s face.

There’s a collective gasp and then absolute silence. 

‘’I’m so done with you Kangmin,’’ Minho almost growls, digging his fingernails into his palms as if the pain surging through his knuckles isn’t enough, ‘’I don’t want to hear another fucking word from you so keep it shut if you don’t want another fist in your face,’’

It’s not _that_ much of a threat but it’s probably the loudest Minho has ever been in class, neither has he ever actually punched someone before, so he guesses the impact – ha - is there.

Kangmin looks quite stunned, same goes for Changbin, but the latter is quick to recover from Minho’s sudden outburst and harshly pushes Kangmin back.

‘’Go sit down, Kangmin,’’

The teacher strolls in before Kangmin can retort and Minho is really thankful for that. He doesn’t want to fight or anything but merely seeing Kangmin’s face makes him twitch. 

Now definitely even more than before.

Minho has made up his mind even before the bell rings. He’s dead-set on finding Jisung at lunch. He doesn’t know how far the gossiping has gone and what that means for Jisung. It’s a small high school in a small town… there aren’t tons of people who are open to people being anything other than straight. Minho would know.

He also needs to apologize still so it’s killing two birds with one stone, really.

Maybe the first step to his whole plan for lunch would be to find someone who can check out his hand, but it doesn’t feel all that bad and there are only red patches on his knuckles. They are turning more and more purple the longer the class goes on, but nothing alarming.

Time drags on but then finally the bell rings and believe it or not, Minho’s moving faster than he has ever done in his life.

‘’See you in a bit,’’ Minho rushes out, not even looking at Changbin as he haphazardly throws his books and pens into his bag, ‘’Save me a spot,’’

With that he takes off, pushing through the crowds of students starting to swarm the hallways to the cafeteria. Usually Minho waits for a little until most of them are gone but he’s a man on a mission and would rather catch Jisung alone somewhere instead of having to draw attention by getting to his table and ask if they can talk somewhere more private.

He speeds through the school even though he has no clue about the boy’s classes. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. But to his luck his does find a needle, a bright orange one that isn’t Jisung but it’s close enough. 

‘’Hey, Carrot!,’’ Minho yells at a mop of vibrant orange hair, coming to a stop at the end of the hallway.

Minho jogs up right when he turns around and the older already has a smile ready but he doesn’t even get the chance to show it.

‘’What?,’’ the boy replies, clearly pissed off but not enough to make Minho fear for his life,, ‘’And it’s Felix, by the way, not _carrot_ ,’’

The older nods and stores the information for later. Right now he isn’t trying to make some new friends; he’s trying to find a rather cute squirrel. 

‘’You’re friends with Jisung right? I’m looking for him. Do you know where he is? Can you tell me?,’’ Minho pants. He thought he was pretty athletic but apparently not as much as he had thought. Running is a bitch.

The boy’s eyes narrow as he seems to think really hard but then he sighs, ‘’He’s at the library, handing in a novel,’’

Minho has already rushed out a thanks and is about to spin back around but a hand on his shoulder stops him from doing so.

‘’Please be nice to Sungie,’’ ~~Carrot~~ Felix almost pleads, ‘’He really had to gather all his courage to talk to you… I think he has burned though all of his reserves for the next couple of months in those three minutes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he either runs away as soon as he sees you or starts crying,’’

Well, fucking _great_. That makes Minho feel a lot better.

He doesn’t know what to say to that and merely nods, hoping it’s enough to give him a pass. It seems to be so and Felix squeezes his shoulder once before motioning for Minho to get moving.

And so his marathon continues, only this time he has an actual place to go to. The hallways are a lot more deserted now so it’s a lot easier to move around.

Minho finds Jisung right outside of the school’s tiny library indeed, talking – or getting talked – to three girls from Minho’s year. Two of them are in his History class, the third one Maths. What they are talking to Jisung for or how they even know him, he doesn’t know.

‘’So if you ever need something you can always come to one of us, yeah?,’’ one of the girls almost coos, much like how one would talk to a toddler, ‘’And don’t think about Minho anymore, he doesn’t deserve a cutie like you,’’

The girl from Maths huffs, crossing her arms, ‘’He may be hot, but his personality is clearly very crappy,’’

Eeehh okay, ouch? What has he ever done to her?

‘’Don’t say that! Minho’s actually really nice you know? He once got me a snack from the vending machine when he heard it was my birthday even though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know my name,’’ one of the girls from History replies.

Minho has to admit he really doesn’t know her name, neither does he even remember doing anything like that. And even if he had, it’s no big deal. He’s glad to hear that something he had probably done without thinking managed to make some sort of positive impact.

Anyways, it has been fun listening in, but he can see how uncomfortable Jisung is. His shoulders are pulled up and he’s clutching his hands together near his chest. The girls don’t seem to notice and keep bickering between them with little regard of the boy.

‘’Cut it out,’’ Minho sighs as he finally steps closer, ‘’Don’t swarm him like that,’’

All four of them look at him at the same time, also all of them flushing a little at the same time. Maths-girl looks a little guilty and is quick to say bye and storm off, the other two saying bye to Jisung before following quickly.

Which now leaves the two of them alone.

Jisung doesn’t seem to be any more comfortable though, almost hiding half of his face behind his sweater-paws – so cute - and peeking at Minho with clear conflict in his eyes. 

Minho runs his hand through his hair, trying to think about how he’s going to start. Should he apologize first? Ask how Jisung’s day is going? Invite him for lunch? Ask if he’s even down to talk at all? Maybe ask for a do-over of everything?

‘’Oh no,’’ Jisung suddenly gasps almost inaudibly, pulling Minho out of his head, ‘’Y-your hand,’’ 

The older looks back at Jisung and the boy is clearly frowning while his eyes are set on Minho’s hand. Then he looks up and their eyes meet. Jisung makes a funny squeal-like noise but doesn’t look away. 

‘’D-does it hurt?,’’ he asks timidly, the sweater-paws crawling a bit higher up his face. A little more and he would be hiding those pretty eyes.

‘’Ah…,’’ Minho replies, eyeing his bruised knuckles before looking back at Jisung with a little smile, ‘’Not really. It’s a bit sore but nothing too bad,’’

The boy nods and Minho thinks he can see the hint of a relieved smile peeking through the sweater-paws, the boy’s eyes crinkling a little and cheeks puffing out a bit more.

But the smile slowly slips away and Jisung suddenly tears up.

Minho’s first instinct is to absolutely freak out and ask what is wrong, but he knows damn well what is wrong so he pushes the feeling down and takes a tiny step closer. Jisung seems to shrink in on himself even more, like he’s afraid Minho is going to beat him up or something. That kinda hurts. 

‘’I’m sorry Jisung,’’ he speaks, still panicking a little when a tear escapes the boy’s eye, ‘’I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to walk off like that but I just freaked out a little. Nothing bad though! I didn’t freak out about you being a boy or anything but more about someone coming up to me at all you know? As in, eeehhh, like, you’re very cute and it’s not like I didn’t want it or something-,’’

He gets interrupted by a little giggle, airy and soft and so warm that Minho feels it in his chest. It’s enough for him to calm down from his stupid rambling and he almost wants to sink into an embarrassed puddle but then Jisung comes out of hiding and giggles again.

‘’You can talk very fast,’’ the boy comments quietly, smiling shyly at the floor for a little before he looks back up at Minho again. There’s another adorable noise and Minho guesses that the eye contact is the culprit. 

But hey, Jisung is standing a little taller and is actually smiling at him so his embarrassment has been for the greater good. 

‘’Does that mean you forgive me?,’’

Jisung thinks for a little – Minho can just see he’s faking it – but then nods happily, ‘’Of course hyung! My brain does stupid things like that all the time. Like how one time Felix and Hyunjin had made these friendship bracelets and the first thing I said was that I thought they weren’t very pretty while I actually meant to say that I though they _were_ very pretty,’’

Minho doesn’t think it’s very similar but he can only smile fondly at the silly grin on the boy’s face. 

‘’Do you still have that letter?,’’ the older asks after he’s sure Jisung’s done with whatever he had been ranting about and the younger nods hesitantly, looking incredibly tiny and cute. Minho cant deny he has the sudden urge to wrap him up in about a million blankets, maybe dump his cats onto him as well to complete the picture. Could he get away with throwing some glitter around as well?

‘’I would love to read it, if you still want me to?,’’

‘’For real?,’’ Jisung squeaks in surprise, lighting up like Minho has just single-handedly made his whole life amazing. The boy must very easy to please.

Minho nods and Jisung is quick to motion for Minho to follow. 

The way to Jisung’s locker is silent and despite the slightly awkward vibe, the younger seems to be in better spirits and actually has a light spring in his step. They reach there soon enough and for some reason Minho isn’t surprised to find that the inside of the younger’s locker is filled with pictures of him with his two friends, decorated with cute stickers and little notes written in glittery ink. There’s even a tiny hamster-plushie on a keychain jammed around the locking-mechanism.

Minho used to have stuff in his locker as well in his first year here but at some point things like that fade and he only thing he would find except for his books would be a faded and ripped schedule of the extra science classes he used to have.

He gets startled out of it rather violently when he can hear several items clattering to the floor, Jisung letting out a tiny squeak at the same time Minho almost flies into the ceiling.  
‘’Oh, I’m sorry,’’ the boy mumbles under his breath as he crouches to pick his books off the floor, ‘’I’m a little clumsy sometimes. Not as bad as Jeongin though, but no one can be as bad as Jeongin. Hyunjin says that’s not true but Felix is on my side on that one,’’

Minho doesn’t know a Jeongin and he has to guess who Hyunjin is, but he doesn’t mention it to Jisung. If it had been Changbin he’d definitely have interrupted and told him that a) he doesn’t care or b) he doesn’t know any of these people.

He finds it physically impossible to anything like that to Jisung, not when the boy is seemingly starting to come out of his shell a little.

‘’Okay,’’ Jisung finally says as he fishes out the letter from somewhere in the back of his locker, ‘’Oh no,’’

The letter is a lot more crumpled now and he smiles a little when Jisung apologizes and tries to get rid of the crinkles in the paper before handing it over to Minho. This time the letter actually makes it into Minho’s hands.

‘’Don’t read it until you’re home please,’’ Jisung rushes out when Minho’s already trying to pry it open, ‘’I’m not brave enough,’’

‘’Can I tell you a little secret?,’’ Minho asks as he carefully stores the letter away in his bag.

Jisung nods and looks at him expectantly with his bog, brown eyes.

‘’You are actually the first person to ever to randomly come up to talk to me, let alone give me a letter,’’ Minho admits, ‘’So I actually think you are the bravest of them all,’’  
He hears the boy gasp, clearly hung up on the first part of what Minho had said, ‘’But you’re so pretty?! How come no one has ever-,’’

Minho looks up right when Jisung cuts himself off and he sees a steadily growing flush on the boy’s cheeks. Before the older can even register the heath creeping up his own neck again, Jisung’s eyes double in size.

He really should’ve seen it coming when the boy squeals and then hastily runs off.

When Minho gets back home, he greets his dad, asks if his mom will be home for dinner – no - and grabs something to drink before trudging up the stairs to his room.

It has been an emotional turbulent day and he feels a little drained, more than on a normal schoolday. He should probably do his homework before he crashes completely but when he has changed into something more comfortable and pulls out his Geography book out of his bag, Jisung’s letter comes with it and softly lands on the floor.

He looks at his book, then the letter, back to his book…

The homework can wait. 

So with that he pulls out the letter and puts the book back in his bag. 

Minho is surprised to find just a handful of sentences. There’s no cliché, nauseating poem or dramatic declaration of love to ‘impress’ him and in some way that’s a relief, because it makes the whole thing a lot more… genuine? 

Or at least, as genuine it can get when they don’t know shit about each other.

_Hi, I think you are really cool and you have very pretty eyes. I like it when you smile too or when you laugh because you look beautiful when you are happy._

Minho laughs a little at the blunt opening and somehow tears up just a tiny bit as well because most of the time people tell him that his laugh is annoyingly high-pitched and ear-piercing and not pleasant to hear at all, which makes that he doesn’t allow himself to fully laugh unless he’s alone with Changbin and Chan. 

When Jisung had witnessed it, he doesn’t know but to read that the boy likes his laugh is honestly one of the most flattering things anyone has ever said to him.

Anyways, there isn’t a whole lot more to it, just some babbling about how shy he is – you don’t say – hence the letter and that he hopes that Minho won’t hate him or something for having a crush on him.

Then it is signed with the younger’s name and another glittery blue heart and that’s that. 

Minho feels a lot of things but the most prominent is the giddy energy in his stomach and surprisingly also the need to cry a little? He isn’t someone who cries that quickly but there’s just something about both Jisung and the letter that makes him strangely emotional.

That night he figures he doesn’t know a lot about Jisung, but he’d like for that to change. He’s eager to find out what’s underneath all that shyness.

Minho makes it his mission to get to school early the next morning and wait at Jisung’s locker. There’s still twenty minutes left before the first class starts and the whole place is more or less deserted. Maybe he has been a little _too_ enthusiastic, but it pays off when he hears loud laughing and muted chuckling coming closer.

Jisung and Felix step around the corner and come to a halt almost instantly, both looking very surprised to see Minho.

‘’Can I borrow Jisung for a second?,’’ he asks Felix, his hand already reaching out for Jisung’s.

To Minho’s surprise, Felix actually smiles at him and doesn’t hesitate to nod. Jisung smiles brightly at that and actually is the one to grab onto Minho’s hand like it’s no big deal, blinking up at him with curious eyes.

It’s a little surprising because Minho had expected an even shyer Jisung than before now that they both know that he has read the younger’s letter, but it’s undeniably nice to know that Jisung is comfortable enough around him already to not fear Minho’s reaction.

They don’t go far, merely a couple of meters into the hallway but it’s more than enough to keep Felix out of earshot. It’s not like Minho cares all that much but he figures Jisung would like the little bit of privacy.

‘’I wanted to thank you for the letter Jisungie,’’ Minho starts, trying not to coo when the younger smiles shyly, ‘’It was very sweet,’’

Jisung merely hums and then stays quiet. He looks like he’s deep in though while staring straight at Minho. Normally the older is capable of staring back just as much but there’s something about the twinkle in Jisung’s big brown eyes that make him feel a little fidgety.

‘’Do you want to be my boyfriend?,’’ Jisung suddenly blurts out before he gasps loudly and snaps his head down, ‘’Eeeh, I-I mean… like, oh gosh, ehhmm I d-didn’t meant for t-that- I’m shutting up now,’’

Oh my gosh. Minho’s heart does a thing and he’s sure he is going to die from cuteness-overload if Jisung keeps being like that.

‘’How about we get to know each other a little first?,’’ Minho laughs fondly despite his burning ears, ‘’I doubt someone as adorable as you could be a serial killer, but you never know,’’

Jisung’s cheeks flush _again_ and at this point Minho is convinced it is his permanent state of being, but maybe it’s just because of him and it is a big confidence-boost for sure. Not that he really needs it, but it is nice nonetheless. 

Anyways, the younger nods a couple of times, ‘’Yeah, yeah of course,’’

They exchange numbers after that and Minho is already tempted to change Jisung’s contact name to ‘Squirrel’ or ‘Jisungie’ but he guesses that he will force himself to wait with that for a little. It’s quite insane how quick he’s growing to like Jisung already. He should try to at least keep himself from going too fast.

‘’It’s a date then,’’ Minho comments before he gently pats the boy’s cheek, enjoying the rather stunned look in the younger’s eyes before walking off.

When he stops and turns around right before getting around the corner he isn’t surprised to see Jisung’s freckled friend is already there, hugging the boy tightly and swaying them from side to side in glee. It makes Minho feel really good to hear Jisung laugh loud and happily.

Then Minho and Felix make eye contact and the latter’s smile drops a little right when he does the whole ‘I’m watching you’-gesture. He knows its part theatrics when Felix smiles again, but he keeps it in the back of his head anyways. 

For the rest of the day and the years to come.

**Author's Note:**

> ‘’Guess who’s got a date this Friday?,’’  
> ‘’Me and Changbin,’’  
> ‘’Nooo Chan, it’s Jisung an- wait what?!,’’  
> ‘’… Surprise?,’’
> 
> \----
> 
> we'll be back with our usual college au schedule possibly tomorrow.


End file.
